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One of Starfleet's purposes is national defense. No matter how much Roddenberry is in denial about it, that means it's a military.

Well he came from an era when politics called for renaming military's of the word, thus the "People's Armies" when the people had no choice, the japanese Self Defense Forces.

But then we have our prejudices also. "Security" is not good enough for Ground Self Defense forces , they must be Starfleet Marines. And because Enterprise and Voyager's primary mission is not to seek out and destroy it is not a "Navy" but a Coast Guard with the finest weapons the Federation economy can supply

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It's one part Coast Guard
One part military
One part exploration
One part Diplomacy Corp.
One part research group
One part Engineering force.
Etc.

The US Coast Guard is a branch of the military, and everything else on that list can be done by the military and has. Even diplomacy, as there are times when foreign VIPs are ferried by military aircraft or navy boats. Constantly splitting hairs about "Starfleet is more than a military, Starfleet is multi-disciplined," and so on are unnecessary. Starfleet is the military, period. I don't care what Roddenberry said.

It's one part Coast Guard
One part military
One part exploration
One part Diplomacy Corp.
One part research group
One part Engineering force.
Etc.

The US Coast Guard is a branch of the military, and everything else on that list can be done by the military and has. Even diplomacy, as there are times when foreign VIPs are ferried by military aircraft or navy boats. Constantly splitting hairs about "Starfleet is more than a military, Starfleet is multi-disciplined," and so on are unnecessary. Starfleet is the military, period. I don't care what Roddenberry said.

More like the US military is Multi-Disciplined.

Militaries of other countries are essentially the same. If this makes them "multi-disciplined," than I guess that is typical of what a military is, and Starfleet is no different.

Maybe I've grown up in a different era/culture but I've never considered Starfleet anything other than military. As someone mentioned upthread, akin to our RN. That's why Reed joined after all. Next best thing

Go back to Gene Roddenberry's personal service history and you'll see why he designed "Starfleet" the way he did.

Roddenberry was a bomber pilot with the 13th Air Force in the South Pacific during the War. The largest presence in everyone's life was the Pacific Fleet. There were thousands of ships in the big Blue Fleet (all were painted Haze Grey, btw), and the comings and goings of the gray supply ships were a constant presence in Roddenberry's life (he won the DFC, btw).

Starfleet is based on, if nothing else, the Pacific Fleet of World War II, a vast armada that as much as any instrument of war, played the most prominent role in the strangulation and reduction of the Japanese Empire. Roddenberry had a more pacific and scientific role in mind for Starfleet, but in the confident era of pre-Vietnam America that gave birth to Star Trek, Star Fleet was an armada that was fit to fight, and ready to fight.

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